Governors are well known for use on internal combustion engines and other industrial machines having rotating shafts for limiting the rotational velocity of the engine or shaft. However, such governors have not been applied to playground equipment such as merry-go-rounds and the like which are manually powered so as to limit the rotational speed thereof. Such rotating playground equipment is often operated at unsafe speeds thus presenting safety hazards to the children playing on such equipment.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a manually rotated playground unit having a governor for limiting the rotational speed of the unit.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a governor for use on rotating playground equipment which is automatically activated when the rotational speed of the playground unit reaches a predetermined level.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a governor for limiting the rotational speed of a rotating playground deck so as to require increased force to maintain the rotational speed of the deck after the governor is activated.
Still a further objective of the present invention is the provision of a governor for controlling the rotational speed of a rotating shaft which is activated when the shaft accelerates to a first predetermined rotational speed and which is deactivated when the shaft decelerates to a second predetermined rotational speed.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a governor for regulating the rotational velocity of a rotatable shaft which is operative when the shaft rotates in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a governor for controlling rotational speed of an object which utilizes the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the object.